Kempton
12.40pm
Polish
He was a very good middle-distance horse on the Flat, where he had plenty of experience, and he has delighted us in his two hurdles starts. He chased home a smart sort on his debut at Taunton and then went one better for me over this trip at Ludlow last time. I think an opening mark of 128 looks fair, and hopefully there is a lot more to come from him, given he has just had the two runs over hurdles.
1.15pm
Commanche Red
I was so impressed with this lad’s performance here on Boxing Day. He felt like a very, very good horse to me that day, winning that handicap by a wide margin, and the form could hardly have worked out any better, too. The runner-up is now rated 9lb higher after his Cheltenham win and the third and fourth have bolted up since as well. He is a horse that excites me and, with a clear round, I think he will be hard to beat.
2.25pm
Quick Grabim
He was clearly a very good horse when trained by Willie Mullins and he obviously faced a tough task on his debut for us in the Christmas Hurdle. This is another difficult assignment for him but hopefully he can step up from that run, and give us more of an idea of what we have.
4.10pm
Aintree My Dream
He has probably run a little better than it looks on his last two starts, and at least he has come down another 4lb in the weights. He obviously goes well on soft ground and he is definitely on a winnable mark if he returns to best.
4.45pm
Minella Tara
A 7lb penalty always makes life tough in races such as these, but we were obviously delighted with his win at Lingfield back in December, where he did most things wrong and still won like a nice horse. This lad is very exci
ting but my concern here is the ground. If there is any heavy in it, he will be an unlikely runner, but at least the forecast looks dry from here on in.
